Operation Proposal 프로포즈 대작전 is the twenty-ninth drama I've watched. Operation Proposal is the Korean adaptation of the Japanese drama Proposal Daisakusen. For many individuals, a first love is never forgotten. There always comes a time when that first love gets married and one thinks about the past memories. The story of Operation Proposal answers the question: "What if we had been together since the beginning?". I recognized Park Eun Bin from her cameo appearance at the end of Dream High as future Hyesung. However, it was such a short scene, it made me curious to see her full acting abilities. Operation Proposal also features Lee Hyun Jin, who was also in You've Fallen For Me. I felt his role in You've Fallen For Me was pretty small and was ready to see him take a bigger role in Operation Proposal.
Kang Baekho (Yoo Seung Ho) has been best friends with Ham Yiseul (Park Eun Bin) since they were children. Although he fell in love with her a long time ago, Baekho has never told Yiseul how he felt about her despite having spent the last twenty years together with her. Like many other guys, he was trying too hard to look for "the perfect moment". Baekho is invited to Yiseul's wedding ceremony. As he watches her get married, Baekho realizes he regrets never having said anything to her. His friends around him are concerned about him. Yiseul's father even tells Baekho that he thought Baekho would be the one to marry Yiseul. While doing an errand for Yiseul's mother, Baekho finds a letter addressed to him from Yiseul. After the wedding, Baekho's sitting on a swing set at the park and reads the letter, finding out it was a confession letter from Yiseul written when they were 17. Baekho, full of regrets now, starts to cry. That's when Baekho meets a mysterious man, sitting next to him on the other swing, who introduces himself as a Time Conductor. By allowing Baekho traveling back to the past to change the future, he gives Baekho his wish: another chance to win back Yiseul.
One of the most interesting things I find about Operation Proposal is the time traveling concept. Baekho travels back to various points in time, starting with 2001. It was very nostalgic in that, many things have changed in the last decade. In fact, later on, Baekho gets adjusted to the time traveling and doesn't completely freak out like the first time he goes back in time. Still, it always takes him about a minute or so to figure out where in time he landed and what is going on, which is always funny to watch. Operation Proposal is amazing with the symbolic metaphors presented. The drama is heavily centered around the characters' huge interest in baseball. The Time Conductor teaches Baekho new life lessons by drawing parallels to the different stories of the pitchers that Baekho idealized so much. In fact, you don't even have to be a baseball fan to appreciate the comparisons. I especially enjoyed Baekho's and Yiseul's characters very much. Baekho is a pretty average guy in my opinion for a main character in a drama. Like other guys, he had a very pretty girl stand by his side for years but didn't see her. Yiseul on the other hand, has only been interested in one guy all her life but gives up on him when she decides that he won't ever notice her. I felt both characters were seriously meant to be together, just like every other character in the drama whether it was Baeko's family, Yiseul's family or their friends. I liked all the parallels drawn between Baekho and Yiseul to their friends Taenam and Chaeri. Although both stories are similar, the relationship between Taenam and Chaeri could be a drama in itself. The story between Jinjoo and Chanwook is also really nice. In a way, I'm really glad that as Baekho travels back in time to fix his own relationship with Yiseul, he also helps his friends fix theirs.
Although there were not many songs, I enjoyed the songs featured on Operation Proposal. While each song isn't super impressive, every song fit the mood very well. My favorites are J-Rabbit's "If You Love Me", "Greetings 인사" and Lee Dong Ha's "That's Why I Didn't Know 그래서 몰랐다". The first song is a bit more upbeat, whereas the second two are ballads. Park Eun Bin's character, Yiseul, also sings a song "Story of Little Love 작은 사랑이야기". This is the song that Baekho and Yiseul used to sing when they were little kids. I also liked the pop references made during Baekho's time traveling. Yiseul is seen giving Baekho back a g.o.d. CD when Baekho returns to his early high school years, in which g.o.d. was a very popular group during the early 2000s. Later, when Baekho is at spring training at Jeju Island, he sings "Nobody" by the Wonder Girls with Chanwook and Taenam during a talent show. "Nobody" was a very popular song in 2008, providing continuity to Baekho's time traveling. These little things make the whole time traveling concept very enjoyable to watch.
Operation Proposal is a very light-hearted drama, without any crazy plot twists like spontaneous terminal illnesses or revenge stories. The chemistry between Yoo Seung Ho and Park Eun Bin is phenomenal. Both of them have acted together in a previous drama, so they were already comfortable with one another. I highly recommend watching this drama. Operational Proposal presents a story and characters that are honestly easily relatable to many of people. The twenty-year friendship the main characters have with one another is something to be envious of. The depth in symbolism and themes has placed Operation Proposal into one of my all-time favorite dramas.
